Redundant and unique roles of coronin proteins in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dictyostelium</Emphasis>

Dictyostelium discoideum harbors a short (CRN12) and a long coronin (CRN7) composed of one and two beta-propellers, respectively. They are primarily present in the cell cortex and cells lacking CRN12 (corA ⁻) or CRN7 (corB ⁻) have defects in actin driven processes. We compared the characteristics of a mutant cell line (corA ⁻ /corB ⁻) lacking CRN12 and CRN7 with the single mutants focusing on cytokinesis, phagocytosis, chemotaxis and development. Cytokinesis, uptake of small particles, and developmental defects were not enhanced in the corA ⁻ /corB ⁻ strain as compared to the single mutants, whereas motility and phagocytosis of yeast particles were more severely impaired. It appears that although both proteins affect the same processes they do not act in a redundant manner. Rather, they often act antagonistically, which is in accordance with their proposed roles in the actin cytoskeleton where CRN12 acts in actin disassembly whereas CRN7 stabilizes actin filaments and protects them from disassembly.     

Texture preserving denoising method combining total variation and wavelet shrinkage

In this paper,we propose a new image denoising method that combines total variation(TV) method and wavelet shrinkage. In our method,a noisy image is decomposed into subbands of LL,LH,HL,and HH in wavelet domain. LL subband contains the low frequency coefficients along with less noise,which can be easily eliminated using TV-based method. More edges and other detailed information like textures are contained in the other three subbands,and we propose a shrinkage method based on the local variance to extract th...     

A communication security protocol of mobile agent system

The security issues of mobile agent system have embarrassed its widespread implementation. The paper analyses communication security threats and countermeasures of mobile agent system and proposes a communication security protocol of mobile agent system. It provides multifactor authentication, encryption transmission, and integrity protection of mobile agent.     

An equivalency condition of nonsingularity in nonlinear semidefinite programming

<正> In this paper,an equivalency condition of nonsingularity in nonlinear semidefinite programming,which can be viewed as a generalization of the equivalency condition of nonsingularity for linearsemidefinite programming,is established under certain conditions of convexity.     

Integral-type tests for goodness-of-fit

<正> A family of integral-type goodness-of-fit tests is investigated.This family includes someexisting tests,such as the Cramér-von Mises test and Anderson-Darling test,etc.The asymptoticdistributions of the tests in the family under the null and local alternative hypotheses are established.The almost sure convergence under a fixed underlying distribution is obtained.Furthermore,simulationsare conducted to compare the powers of the tests in the family.Simulation results show that fordifferent alternatives,the more powerful tests are different,and the parameter λ has great influence onthe tests in small sample cases.     

The Use of Soft Systems Methodology to Enhance Group Creativity

Soft Systems Methodology is especially useful in diagnosing and addressing organizational problems and designing new systems in cultures that are characterised by pluralistic views and values. This paper demonstrates how SSM workshops in a large government agency resulted in a high level of creativity. SSM is then proposed as a methodology that could enhance group creativity in organizational design contexts.     

The Knowledge Age or the Age of Ignorance and the Decline of Freedom?

Increasingly knowledge has become a determining factor in achieving life’s potential and is the currency of the age. Without access to Information an individuals’ knowledge base cannot be enriched and without knowledge the individual becomes increasingly powerless. Advances in technology have provided opportunities for some to add to their stock of knowledge but access to sources of information is uneven and can lead to social unrest. The availability of information is an important factor in managing change and empowering citizens. The question about information and power then becomes one of ownership or sovereignty of the information. If we are to create an open society then we need to ensure that there is open access to knowledge through flexible and intelligent information systems that are available for all. In this paper we consider if we are truly entering the knowledge age or the age of ignorance.     

Advances in Arabidopsis research in China from 2006 to 2007

Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant species, has a number of advantages over other plant species as an experimental organism due to many of its genetic and genomic features. The Chinese Arabidopsis community has made significant contributions to plant biology research in recent years[1,2]. In 2006, studies of plant biology in China received more attention than ever before, especially those pertaining to Arabidopsis research. Here we briefly summarize recent advances in Arabidopsis re-search in China.     

Resolution for Conflicts of Inter-Operation in Multi-Domain Environment

This paper proposes a method to formalize the interoperation in multi-domain environment. Through employing the algebra method, we conclude four types of the conflicts for the interoperation, and analyzes the cause of the policy conflicts. For each type of conflicts, we formalize it and proposes the method of detection and resolution. Finally, the method is illuminated be effective through comparing our work with others.     

Swelling behaviors and pervaporation properties of CA/PAN composite membranes for separation of caprolactam/water mixtures

The composite membranes with cellulose acetate (CA) as the separating layer material and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as the supporting layer material were prepared for separating caprolactam (CPL) from CPL/water mixtures by pervaporation technique. The swelling experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of swelling time and CPL concentration on the degree of swelling. The results showed that the CA membrane reached swelling equilibrium within 24 h, and the degree of swelling first slightly decreased then increased with the increase of CPL concentration in the feed under the experimental conditions. Respectively comparing flux with permeance, and separation factor with selectivity, we found out that the separation performance of the CA/PAN composite membrane is more strongly dependent on its hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature as well as on the effects of operating parameters, such as feed composition concentration and feed temperature.